Shipment Management Systems and Methods

Abstract

A computer implemented system and method for managing and tracking cargo shipments through a supply chain. The system includes a core domain and a party domain. In the core domain, electronic representations of one or more core processes may be generated and maintained that includes a sequence of events and/or milestones representing real world actions associated with the shipping chain. In the party domain, electronic representations of one or more party processes may be generated and maintained that represent a sequence of various events and/or milestones that a party to the shipping chain must undertake. The core domain may generate and communicate events representative of actions that have been or should be undertaken by the parties. The events may be communicated to the party domain where the events can trigger or realize milestones indicating to the party it should undertake various real world actions relating to the shipping chain.

1 . A computer implemented system for monitoring and managing the transportation of cargo through a shipping chain, the system comprising:
 a core domain including one or more core process, each core process having a sequence of events representing stages or actions associated with the shipping cycle;   a party domain including at least one party process, the party process having a plurality of milestones representing stages or actions associated with the shipping cycle, at least one party process subscribing to an event in the core process; and   an event bus communicatively linking the core domain and the party domain, the event bus adapted to communicate an occurrence of an event representing a business transaction among parties to the shipping chain between the core domain and the subscribed party process to realize a milestone.   
     
     
         2 . The computer implemented system of  claim 1 , wherein the party domain includes a user interface enabling a party to verify a milestone. 
     
     
         3 . The computer implemented system of  claim 2 , wherein the event bus is adapted to communicate the milestone verification to the core domain to update the sequence of events in the core process. 
     
     
         4 . The computer implemented system of  claim 1 , wherein the core domain further includes a core event bus adapted to communicate the occurrence of an event between the one or more core processes. 
     
     
         5 . The computer implemented system of  claim 1 , wherein expectations can be associated with the party process milestones, the expectations regarding predicted timing and/or location of a predicted realization of the associated milestone. 
     
     
         6 . The computer implemented system of  claim 5 , wherein the system monitors the plurality of milestones for exceptions to the expectations associated with the milestones, the exceptions representing delay, missed or out of sequence realization of the milestones. 
     
     
         7 . The computer implemented system of  claim 6 , wherein the system sends a notification of the exception to a party to the shipping chain. 
     
     
         8 . The computer implemented system of  claim 5 , wherein the system monitors the plurality of milestones for delayed realization of a milestone, and the system shifts expectations for forthcoming predicated milestones. 
     
     
         9 . The computer implemented system of  claim 5  further comprising an historical database storing data about the exceptions and a software implemented analytic tool for analyzing the data. 
     
     
         10 . A computer implemented method for monitoring and managing a transportation of cargo through a shipping chain, the method comprising:
 providing a computer maintainable system including a core domain and a party domain communicatively linked by an event bus;   presenting in the core domain one or more core processes, each core process having a sequence of events representing stages or actions associated with the shipping cycle;   presenting in the party domain at least one party process, the party process having a plurality of milestones representing stages or actions associated with the shipping cycle; and   communicating an occurrence of an event from the core process to the party process via the event bus.   
     
     
         11 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 subscribing the party process to at least one core process to receive communication of the event occurrence while excluding unsubscribed event occurrences.   
     
     
         12 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 communicating verification of a milestone realization from the party process to the core domain.   
     
     
         13 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 presenting in the party domain a second party process, the second party process having a plurality of milestones representing stages or actions associated with a second party to the shipping cycle;   communicatively linking the second party process to core domain via the event bus.   
     
     
         14 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 defining an expectation with a milestone, the expectation regarding predicted timing and/or location of expected realization of the milestone.   
     
     
         15 . The computer implemented method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 monitoring the plurality of milestones in the party process for an exception to the expectation, the exceptions representing delay, missed or out of sequence realization of the milestones.   
     
     
         16 . The computer implemented method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 sending a notification of the exception to a party of the supply chain.   
     
     
         17 . The computer implemented method of  claim 14 , further comprising monitoring the plurality of milestones in the party process for a delayed realization of a milestone, and shifting the expectations for forthcoming predicated milestones. 
     
     
         18 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising sending an alert regarding a pending occurrence of a milestone to a party to the shipping chain. 
     
     
         19 . A computer implemented document repository comprising:
 instructions for generating a graphical user interface for displaying stored documents associated with transportation of cargo in a shipping chain;   a database for storing documents associated with transportation of cargo in a shipping chain;   instructions for enabling documents to be uploaded from remote computers to the database; and   instructions for querying the database to located and display the uploaded documents.   
     
     
         20 . The computer implemented document repository of  claim 17 , further comprising instructions to categorize the uploaded documents as waiting for review, approved, or rejected.